"Insane"

Arlene Kushner

Actually, I should say, "more insane than normal."

This will be a short posting. I've been working non-stop on a report concerning US funding for PA "security forces" -- an exceedingly pertinent subject, and a report that I'll be referring to now and again.

If it weren't for the signing today of the unity agreement between Fatah and Hamas, I would have waited another day. But hey...

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So...PA President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas head of the politburo Khaled Masha'al went to Cairo for the signing...and promptly got into a fight about who would sit where (reportedly Abbas did not want Masha'al next to him). Delayed that signing by a couple of hours, although it ultimately did take place. The tensions between the parties are likely a window on what's really going on. Yuval Diskin, who leaves his post as head of Shin Bet next week, sees this "unity" agreement as:

"...mostly for the sake of appearances, in an attempt to show unity. From here on, there are many things both sides don't know how to apply in theory, let alone on the ground.

"These kinds of attempts have been around for a long time. Hamas is still conflicted… and has opted for a tactical move rather than a strategic one."

I sure wouldn't argue, and we're going to have to watch and see how this plays out over the next weeks, and months, and if it lasts that long, the next year or two.

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But the key issue from where I sit is the management of "security forces." And it's on this issue that Diskin loses me. He says Israel should continue security arrangements with the PA.

It's not just that I disagree, it's that I genuinely cannot imagine what's in his head. Yes, as of today there is no joint Fatah-Hamas management of security forces. The PA is still in charge of its own forces in Judea and Samaria (just as Hamas has forces in Gaza). But the security arrangements between Israel and Fatah have had to do with combating terrorism -- notably Hamas. And now Fatah is officially in bed with Hamas. What sort of security arrangements would these be??

Says Diskin: “As long as the [PA] security forces do not change their policies and action on the ground there is no reason for us to change our policy.”

Not change their policies of cooperating with Israel in seeking out Hamas terrorists? In his Cairo speech today, Abbas said, “we will not accept pluralism of the security forces, only one authority, one weapon and one political authority.”

As for action, just today I picked up from a highly reliable source information that, “Things are beginning to heat up now” -- there have been reports in the Tulkarem area of PA forces taking shots at Israeli troops. There may not be Fatah-Hamas cooperation in managing security forces, but the message from Hamas to Fatah is almost certain to be one that severely discourages cooperation with the IDF.

That report I alluded above is designed to try to convince Congress that there should be no more US support for PA security forces.

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Three Arab MKs attending the signing: Talab El-Sana (Ra'am-Ta'al), Ahmad Tibi (Ra'am Ta'al), and Mohammed Barakeh (Hadash) -- declaring the event "historic." I hate to remind them that this is not the first Fatah-Hamas unity government. There was one briefly before the Hamas coup in Gaza. As to historic, I'd like to see history made as they are tossed out of the Knesset for attending the event of a sworn enemy of Israel.

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It seems to me that there is a way in which Hamas is doing our work for us. They have consented to play the game with regard to "unity" with Fatah, but they won't deign to play the game with regard to being conciliatory on the issue of Israel.

Nope, they've been very proudly, defiantly up front with regard to their intentions. There are some parties who might have gone along with the unity arrangement who will find it more difficult to do, in light of Hamas's positions.

Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Zahar, for example, said today that Palestine is "hallowed ground" and that Hamas will never recognize Israel -- or as he put it, the rule of "Poles and Ethiopians." Nice guy.

But, no surprise, Fatah is itself sounding more like Hamas, with Nabil Sha'ath saying that the Quartet principles are irrelevant: "Stop asking Hamas to recognize Israel."

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Then there's Jimmy Carter. He thinks this unity arrangement will lead to peace and stability. Good old Jimmy is always on top of these matters.

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Prime Minister Netanyahu is in London, first stop of several in which he will be lobbying against support for the new unity government. That unity deal, he says, is a blow to peace, and a victory for terrorism.

Abbas, he points out, in signing with Hamas, has "embraced" an organization that lamented the death of bin Laden, calling him a "martyr."

A careful choice of words, I think. This very fact -- which thoroughly infuriated Obama -- is going to make it harder (though not impossible) for the president and certain others to approach the unity government with anything resembling good will.

For the time being, at least, we can safely assume that there will be no more "peace initiatives" with pressure applied to Israel to make more concessions for "peace." Netanyahu has made it clear we will not negotiate with this unity government. Although Secretary of State Clinton has still been making unsettling noises about the continuing US relationship with the PA.

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© Arlene Kushner. This material is produced by Arlene Kushner, functioning as an independent journalist. Permission is granted for it to be reproduced only with proper attribution.